Hone your skills and strategies for dealing with disputes and other complex issues that arise in your Wills & Estates practice with this in-depth seminar. Hear a succession update and tips on drafting affidavits in family provision claims. Learn more about promissory estoppel and how constructive and resulting trusts arise. Unpack tips to mitigate legal issues in the administration of complex estates and strategies to deal with elder abuse and removing executors.

Presenters

Asheetha Jelliffe, Partner, Bridges Lawyers
Asheetha was admitted to practice in 2003. She has 20 years' experience in Wills and Estates Law and became an Accredited Specialist in 2011. She is appointed by the Law Society of NSW as a member of the Advisory Committee for Specialist Accreditation in Wills and Estates. Although her main area of practice is in contested estate litigation, including testamentary capacity matters, family provision cases and other trust and estate administration suits, she has utilised that experience in her growing estate planning practice. She also has experience in Elder Law related issues and applying for 'out of the ordinary' grants of probate and letters of administration. Asheetha has been appointed as a Court Appointed Administrator for estates. She is a regular presenter at seminars and workshops in the areas of Wills and Estates law. Asheetha is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. Asheetha has been listed in the 2023 Doyles Guide's lists of Preeminent Estates Litigation Lawyers and Leading Wills Estates and Succession Planning Lawyers in New South Wales.


Jennifer Vuu, Senior Associate, HWL Ebsworth
Jennifer is an Accredited Specialist in Wills and Estates Law (NSW). She is an experienced practitioner in the areas of estate planning, probate and estate administration, estate litigation and trusts. Jennifer advises and works directly with a diverse range of private clients, charitable organisations, insurers, and financial institutions. Jennifer holds a Master of Laws (Applied Law majoring in Wills and Estates) from the College of Law and is a registered Trust and Estate Practitioner with The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). In 2022 and 2023, Jennifer was recognised by Doyle's Guide as a Wills, Estates & Succession Planning Rising Star in NSW & ACT. Jennifer regularly authors articles on succession law and has presented seminars to the profession for The Law Society of NSW, UNSW, STEP and The Blue Mountains Regional Law Society. She is also a consulting editor for CCH / Wolters Kluwer in respect of its Estate Planning & Trusts Law publication.


Monica Ross-Maranik, Consulting Principal, Keypoint Law
Monica is an accredited specialist in wills and estates law in NSW, working predominately in estate litigation, probate, estate administration and estate planning. She has over 25 years’ practise in the field, including extensive experience conducting high profile litigation which she undertakes with compassion and strategic reasoning. Monica’s areas of expertise include: Wills and estate planning, Contested probate litigation, Family provision litigation, Probate and estate administration, Other estate and equity litigation, Trusts and trust litigation, Enduring powers of attorney, Enduring guardianships and Protective jurisdiction advice and litigation including court authorised wills. Monica holds a Master of Laws from Sydney University, and is a current member of the International Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).


Kim Boettcher, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers
Kim is a Barrister at Frederick Jordan Chambers in Sydney. Kim practises in Equity, Common Law, Protective and Guardianship Law, and in the Probate and Succession List. Prior to coming to the Bar, she practised as a Solicitor in commercial and civil litigation law in England and Wales, New South Wales and Queensland. More recently, she was a Solicitor at the Seniors Rights Service, an independent legal centre and regularly attended the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing in New York as a civil society representative. Kim was appointed to the NSW Minister of Fair Trading’s Retirement Villages Advisory Council in 2013 and also to the Minister’s Expert Committee on Retirement Villages Standard Contract Terms and Disclosure Documents in 2011. Kim was a Member of the inaugural Legal Services Council in 2014 and reappointed from 2017-2020. She is a past Treasurer of the International Commission of Jurists Australia and was appointed to the NSW Bar Association’s Succession and Protective Law Committee in 2021, 2022 and 2023.


Justine Taylor, Principal Director, Uther Webster & Evans
Justine is an accredited specialist in wills & estates and has been listed by Doyles as Recommended and Leading Wills & Estates Litigation Lawyer across NSW and Australia. Justine joined Uther Webster & Evans in 2004 and holds a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Psychology. Justine is a Principal Director at Uther, Webster & Evans with her primary practice and passion in the area of estate planning and estate litigation, including complex wills, probate, contested estate litigation, protective list applications, general equity, estoppel and trusts.


Michaela Money, Legal Practitioner Director, MJM Lawyers
Michaela Money is the principal/director of MJM Lawyers Pty Limited. She has worked in the area of wills and estates in New South Wales since being admitted to practice as a solicitor, in 1998. Michaela became an Accredited Specialist in Wills and Estates in New South Wales in 2009. She was one of the highest achievers of those who applied for Specialist Accreditation in Wills and Estates in New South Wales in 2009. As a result, her submissions have been used as part of a package given to prospective future applicants for Specialist Accreditation to inform them of the standard required to attain Specialist Accreditation in Wills and Estates. Michaela has been a Member of the esteemed international Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP) since 2010. Michaela has been listed in Doyle's Guide of leading Wills and Estate Litigation Lawyers in Sydney, identified by their peers for their expertise and abilities in the area since 2015.


Isabel McLelland, Senior Associate, Teece Hodgson & Ward
Isabel was admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2015, after graduating from the University of Technology, Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours. Her Honours Thesis was on undue influence in Wills, a topic which she remains passionate about. A large focus of Isabel’s practice is complex estate planning and advice in relation to trusts. She also acts for executors and beneficiaries in relation to estate matters, including probate applications, construction of wills, and estate administration disputes. She has run Supreme Court proceedings for both private clients and charitable organisations to resolve trust-related issues and disputes. Isabel has also acted for both plaintiffs and defendants in estate litigation, including family provision and contested probate matters. In 2020, Isabel was recognised as a Rising Star in the area of wills and estates by Doyle’s Guide. The same year, she was a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 awards for her pro bono legal work. In December 2020, she won the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Rising Star award, as well as the Excellence Award which recognised the top 10 female practitioners, as assessed by the Lawyers Weekly panel, across all areas of practice in Australia. Isabel enjoys sharing wills and estates knowledge with other professionals, clients and the public. She has conducted multiple workshops for charity organisations in relation to probate and estate issues, as well as for probate registrars and judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Isabel joined our firm in August 2022, and acts in both contentious and non-contentious matters relating to wills, estates and trusts.


Maree Harris, Special Counsel, de Groots
Maree Harris holds Bachelor of Laws and Commerce degrees from the University of New South Wales. In 2009, Maree was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales. Maree is Special Counsel at de Groots wills and estate lawyers in Sydney. Since 2012, Maree has worked exclusively in wills and estates, acting in a range of estate litigation, Probate, estate administration and estate planning matters. Her primary focus has been on estate litigation matters, including family provision applications, contested Probate matters, will validity claims, and estate administration disputes. Maree is on the editorial board of the Wills Probate and Administration Practice (New South Wales) text authored by John de Groot and the Family Provision in Australia text authored by John de Groot and Bruce Nickel. In 2023, Maree completed her collaborative law training. Maree was named in the 2023 Doyle’s Guide as a recommended lawyer in the NSW estate litigation category.